Kit fillet knife. Bolster to scales?

[fishrman]

I am a newbie to all this at 70 years old. Nice to think of yourself as a newbie at my age. I have done some searching on here but haven't found exactly what I was looking for. Probably not looking or searching right. Anyway. I got bit by a little bit of the bug and have completed 4 fillet knife kits that didn't have a bolster. Now, my newest kit does have a bolster. I am sure it is easy for those that are adapt at this but as a newbie, I don't want to screw it up. The bolster is square where it meets the scales, so no curves or angles to worry about fit there. I guess my question is more how to not screw up the bolster finish when I sand the scales to fit the outside edge of the bolster. Thanks for any help.

[Ray Rogers]

One possible way: before the scales are mounted on the knife sand the scales down to the same thickness as the bolsters. Be sure to use finer sandpaper as you near the finished size. Mount the scales and then sand the whole handle with fine paper to the finish you want. After that you can buff the whole handle if you want or you can tape off the bolsters or the scales and buff what's left.....

[fishrman]

In sanding before mounting the scales, I am guessing it will be allot of trial and error. As far as buffing goes, could a guy use a Dremel tool for this?

[Doug Lester]

It would be slow going and possibly a little uneven. Another thing that you could use is a buffing wheel mounted in a hand drill or drill press. if you use a hand drill you would need to tape up the blade and clamp it in a vice. If on a drill press you must, and I mean must, hold the knife where the wheel turns away from you to protect against the wheel grabbing the knife and hurling it at you .

Doug

[fishrman]

Thank you!! Good tips!

[Ray Rogers]

No trial and error involved. What I said was: sand the scales to the thickness of the bolsters (pretty close). Mount the scales and finish sanding the bolsters AND the scales together. That evens them out. By having the scales sized before you mount them the remaining sanding can be done with finer sandpaper which means you won't mess up the bolsters since you will want to sand then with fine paper anyway to complete their finish ....

[fishrman]

Originally Posted by Ray Rogers

No trial and error involved. What I said was: sand the scales to the thickness of the bolsters (pretty close). Mount the scales and finish sanding the bolsters AND the scales together. That evens them out. By having the scales sized before you mount them the remaining sanding can be done with finer sandpaper which means you won't mess up the bolsters since you will want to sand then with fine paper anyway to complete their finish ....

Thanks! We will give it a go!